ALBANY  New York labor officials say investigators recovered and disbursed more than $16.4 million in wages, interest and damages in the first half of this year to 21,050 workers cheated out of proper pay and benefits.

The Department of Labor says it completed investigations of nearly 5,000 cases in those six months, 45 percent more than in the same period last year, while the disbursements are 16 percent more.

The department says the reduction in open cases comes from policy and operational changes like referring more cases to compliance conferences to resolve them.

It reports completed investigations for 78 percent of cases opened in January 2014, 99 percent of cases opened last year, and nearly all opened before 2012.